5 Surprising Transplants That Can Be Done

Kidney, liver, and even heart transplants may be lifesaving, but they're old news. Thanks to a slew of groundbreaking advancements, surgeons are now performing a wider range of transplants than ever before—and even doctors are in awe of the developments.

"There is so much going on in this field that you wake up every day and wonder what else has somebody dreamt up," says Sue McDiarmid, MD, a professor of pediatrics and surgery at UCLA and a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons Vascularized Composite Allograft Committee. The changes are happening so rapidly, in part, because more reconstructive surgeons and transplant experts have joined forces. "By using their creativity and incredible surgical expertise, they have opened the field up to more complex operations," says McDiarmid.

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Here's a look at 5 transplant procedures that are nothing short of miraculous.

1. Uterus Doctors at Cleveland Clinic announced that they will soon transplant uteruses into 10 women who either don't have a uterus or whose uterus no longer functions. If they're successful, it will mark a major milestone for US surgeons. (The procedure has already been performed nine times in Sweden, leading to several live births.)

"The concept of transplanting a uterus that can nurture and nourish a human being is a real mindblower," says McDiarmid.

Cleveland Clinic is now seeking women who are 21 to 39 years old and do not have a uterus. (You might have been born without one or had it removed for medical reasons.) The surgery itself is quite complicated, and patients must take antirejection drugs during pregnancy. But for women who aren't able to have children, the risks might be worth it. (Are your hormones out of whack? Then try the The Hormone Reset Diet.)

Face transplants are no longer only something that happens in a Nicolas Cage movie. This surgery entails all or part of a patient's face being removed and replaced with tissue from a cadaver. Sometimes the underlying fat, tendons, cartilage, nerves, bone nerves, blood vessels, bones, and muscles are replaced as well.

The first partial face transplant in the world was performed in France in 2005; the first full one was completed in Spain in 2010. Recently, Patrick Hardison—a volunteer firefighter who suffered severe burns—made headlines for undergoing one of the most extensive face transplants ever performed. A team at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York worked for 26 hours as they replaced Hardison's entire scalp, ears, and eyelids.

Face transplant surgery isn't just about aesthetics. In addition to improving a patient's quality of life, it can also boost functional abilities, such as vision, speech, chewing, swallowing, and breathing through the nose.

3. Hand

Philadelphia Inquirer/getty images

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The world's first pediatric bilateral hand transplant took place last summer (2015) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A serious infection caused 8-year-old Zion Harvey to have his hands and forearms amputated several years ago. The 40-person team who worked on Harvey included physicians, nurses, and staffers from plastic and reconstructive surgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, and radiology.

A hand transplant takes 8 to 12 hours; surgeons start by connecting the bones, then the tendons, arteries, nerves, veins, and skin. Patients need intense post-op rehab and therapy before they can effectively use the transplanted limb. The first successful human hand transplant was done by an international team in Lyon, France, in 1998.

Intestinal transplantation is the rarest type of organ transplantation performed; it's used as a last resort to treat acute cases of intestinal failure. This problem usually happens when at least half of the small intestine has been removed due to a medical problem, though disorders like Crohn's disease may also be a factor.

Transplanted intestines usually come from a deceased donor, but it's possible for a living donor to provide a portion of an intestine. During the complex procedure, the small intestine is surgically removed and replaced with the healthy donor intestine, then connected to the patient's gastrointestinal tract.

The first successful intestinal transplant was performed in Germany in 1988, but the procedure is becoming more common as antirejection drugs and surgical techniques have improved.

5. Fecal Yes, they can transplant poop. Think of it as the microbial equivalent of a blood transplant. And while it might sound gross, fecal microbiota transplants—in which the fecal matter of a healthy person is transferred into the gastrointestinal tract of another—can be lifesaving.

This technique has been used in people with recurring Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections. C. diff is notoriously hard to treat, as bad bacteria overpopulate the colon and can lead to fatal diarrhea. But fecal transplants have a 90% success rate in stomping out this infection.

During the procedure, healthy stool from a donor is transplanted into the colon of an ill patient via colonoscopy, endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or enema. Scientists believe that the transplanted matter repopulates the patient's colon with good bacteria that had been killed off.

Fecal transplants are surprising ancient—the first one documented dates back to fourth-century China. But they're still considered experimental as far as modern medicine is concerned. Fecal transplants are now being explored as a possible remedy for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.

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